All posts filed under: seasonal eating

Heirloom Tomato and Herbed Ricotta and Goat Cheese Tart

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August is playing a trick on us.  It’s usually a million degrees here, but between overcast skies, afternoon thunderstorms and temperatures hovering around 100 degrees, I’ve almost convinced myself that Autumn is right around the corner.  So pervasive was this thought that I actually turned on my oven and made this Heirloom Tomato Tart! I know I’ve been waxing poetic about heirloom tomatoes these last few weeks, but I cannot resist! Tomatoes are just so juicy and sweet and plump this time of year that I cannot help myself. Fresh tomatoes are here and we are stuffing our faces with them every chance we get! Before long, it will be October and all we’ll have are canned tomatoes or at worst, those awful mealy, off-season tomatoes at the grocery store!  So, I hope you’ll bear with me for one more week while I continue to gorge myself with vine-ripened heirloom tomatoes! This tart was inspired by a dear friend and coworker who makes the most amazing comfort foods!  She is the Queen of Cream; the Baroness of Bacon!  Everything she makes is just filled …

Heirloom Tomato and Burrata Caprese Salad and That Time I Broke the Cat.

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DIY and I just don’t get along and I’ll tell you why.  Home improvement projects, on the whole, are NEVER as easy as they look, and sometimes, when you’re me, they can cause a cascade of unfortunate events that just might make you decide that the ugly wallpaper in the bathroom just might be fine for another year. It all started last Saturday morning.  It was that glorious, early morning golden hour, before the cats were awake and meowing, before breakfast needed to be made.  HGTV was on in the background, I was reading the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens on my iPad and then an article popped up on my Houzz app that gave me 11 (really awesome) reasons to paint my interior doors black!  Do you know Houzz?  Houzz is awesome.  It’s a huge database of Things You Want to Do To Your House But Should Really Call a Contractor for.  “This is a great idea!”, I thought. “This is going to be an easy, low budget update!”  So, with visions swirling …

Ponzu-Marinated Shrimp Skewers with Nectarine Chutney

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We are officially in the thick of summer! It is hot, hot, hot and when it’s like this, we try our best to cook everything outside on the grill so that we don’t heat up the house! I’m sure many of you can relate! So, with that in mind, I wanted to make a dish that was easy to make, yet so bold and flavorful that even my husband, who had declared himself “not a fan of shrimp” would become a believer! Sweet, succulent shrimp is marinated in a bath of cilantro, Thai basil, garlic and Ponzu; grilled over a hot flame, then topped off with a sweet and spicy nectarine chutney! It’s a perfect summer meal–light, flavorful and kicked up with just enough spice to keep things exciting! If you’ve never had Ponzu before, you must give it a try. It is a Japanese condiment that is made from vinegar, lemon juice and sudachi, a Japanese citrus fruit. It has a light citrusy flavor that really compliments the shrimp; plus, the ponzu doesn’t “cook” the shrimp the way …

Happy Father’s Day! Cherry Drop Martini

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Oh, fresh cherries…I am not done with you yet!  I am going to make the most of you while you’re in season, eating these glittering jewels by the bagful; baking them into a pie, smashing them into a cocktail.  Cherry season is too short, so I shall make hay while the sun shines. This drink is so smooth.  A perfect balance of sweetness and strength.  Just like Dad.  I made this cocktail with both white vermouth and red vermouth and they both resulted in a really fine drink.  The red vermouth brings out the deeper, darker cherry notes and the white vermouth is bright and sweet.  You can’t go wrong with either one. So, make your Dad (or whoever represents a father in your life) a drink and let him relax today–he deserves it!

Chocolate Cherry Crisp from “Bountiful”

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I really want to tell you about this Chocolate Cherry Crisp that I made from White on Rice Couple’s cookbook, Bountiful.  I want to tell you about these gorgeous cherries and about how excited I am that cherries are back in season and are inexpensive enough that you won’t have to take out a home equity line of credit just to buy a bag! I want to tell you how absolutely luscious this crumble is–how the sweet, tender cherries and rich dark chocolate smoosh together perfectly under that crumbly topping.  But before I do any of that, I want to tell you that I am having the hardest time writing these days.  I’m not sure what’s causing my words to jam up inside of me like a spoonful of cold peanut butter, but they are.  I mean, I just used the word “smoosh” in a sentence and I’m 100% sure that’s not a real word, but it’s going to have to stay that way, because the other word I’m thinking of just vanished into thin air.  Have …

Roasted Asparagus with Clementine Butter Sauce

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As I’m writing this, I just happened to glance outside and saw a hummingbird in the backyard!  Hummingbirds make me so happy!  It tells me, one, it’s Springtime and two, I have enough flowers blooming that they want to stop by for a quick sip!   This week I want to share a few recipes that really celebrate the fresh flavors of Spring.  Easter is this weekend, and what I love about that holiday is that it’s the perfect opportunity to showcase bright, spring vegetables!  Even though I buy asparagus throughout the year, this is the time when they taste the best and don’t break the bank!  The recipe is so easy and I think it will be perfect on the Easter table. The asparagus is roasted in the oven and then finished with a sauce that is both bright and fresh as well as richly decadent.  This is yet another one of those sauces that I have to keep myself from eating with a spoon!

Arugula and Golden Beet Salad with Grapefruit Vinaigrette

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When I was a kid, beets were the one vegetable that I would not touch with a ten-foot pole! It was the 1970s and the only beets we had came in a can and I thought they were awful! But the moment I had fresh, roasted beets served with goat cheese, I was hooked. Now I can’t get enough of them! Earthy, sweet, gnarly-beautiful beets are made even sweeter by slowly roasting them in the oven with cinnamon sticks and bay leaves and marinated in a gingery-grapefruit vinaigrette.  If ever there was a salad that makes you feel warm inside, then this is it!   The weather is finally starting to warm up a bit, but it’s technically winter, so we can still take advantage of ripe, winter citrus, leafy greens and root vegetables.  This salad beautifully bridges the gap between the long, cold winter and the warm sun of spring that’s just waiting around the corner! Golden beets are not always available, so when I see them at the market, I grab them.  Milder …